Dear Colleagues,

Arthropods comprise a large and diverse class of marine and terrestrial organisms inhabiting several niches on the planet. Some degree of the evolutionary success of arthropods is related to the production and inoculation of venom, as is the cases of arachnids (spiders and scorpions), hymenopterans (ants, bees, and wasps), and myriapods (centipedes). Peptides and organics are the primary molecular weapons that make up the composition of arthropod venoms. Arthropod venoms are naturally utilized for prey capture and self-defense but sometimes accidentally cause the envenomation of humans, leading to severe injuries. The remarkable biological effects have prompted much interest in arthropod venom components, and consequently, an increased number of studies have been carried out into the chemical composition and biological activities of arthropod venom. Venom component analysis has advanced to an outstanding level of accuracy and sensitivity, revealing the complexity and richness of arthropod venom and leading to the discovery of unique classes of proteins, peptides, and small molecules. Chemical and pharmacological investigation into arthropod venom has been one of the significant topics in the field of toxinology. This Special Issue of Toxins is a sequel to the similar Special Issues, entitled “Arthropod Venom Components and their Potential Usage” and “Toxinologic and Pharmacological Investigation of Venomous Arthropods”, which were published in 2019 and 2021, respectively. This subsequent Special Issue plans to focus on peptide components in arthropod venoms, collecting state-of-the-art progress results.

Prof. Dr. Katsuhiro Konno
Prof. Dr. Gandhi Rádis-Baptista
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxins is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• venom components
• peptide toxins
• peptidomics
• transcriptome
• venomics
• neurotixc peptides
• peptide ligand
• peptide engineering
• venom-derived peptide leads

• Toxinologic and Pharmacological Investigation of Venomous Arthropods in Toxins (8 articles)
• Arthropod Venom Components and Their Potential Usage in Toxins (21 articles)